by Carie Moore
As we sit here, many of us out of town, it’s a snow day for us. We can’t make it in to work, or we don’t want to risk not making it home later. Grocery stores, restaurants, and businesses will likely close and roads will wait to be plowed until the snow subsides.
One occupation won’t stop, though: agriculture. Although grain hauling is at a halt for a couple days, the trucks are sitting so that means inspections and tire/oil changes, repairs, and cleanings. There will be added snow removal after the storm and there are still animals (your future food) that need to be fed, watered, bedded, and checked on.
Your food doesn’t stop growing and needing care just like your kids still need care on a snow day. At least this one falls on break so there’s no mental breakdown of waking up to the radio’s dreaded announcement of “NO SCHOOL.”
Wind chills will become bitter requiring animals to use more energy to keep warm which requires more food. I know many of my friends still went to start up the tractor because they are grinding and feeding cows, sheep, horses, pigs, and chickens. They are laying out extra straw, pulling animals inside, and doing what they can to make them as comfortable as possible. Animal husbandry is something ranchers take seriously. Like squirrels that store nuts for the long winter ahead, ranchers work hard all summer to make hay and straw bales, grow corn, oats, and barley to grind for feed, and patch holes in barns and fences to prepare for winter.
Even with the holidays, school break and storms, the chores must still get done. Usually, they just take longer. Things break or don’t start, visibility or snow drifts reduce efficiency, bins bridge or freeze up…and when you smack your hand on something it always hurts so much more when it’s cold!!!
So, as you run to the store to grab items like milk, cheese, hamburger, fries, cereal, and other staples to get you through a potential storm, remind yourself and your children where that food came from. Be thankful this holiday season that someone out there is still working very hard to produce your food at all costs, no matter what.
The café in town in still open which means because of that trip to town to fix the semi, I can thank the dairy farmer, coffee farmer, my grain hauler who had to go to town, and the café workers, for making my snow day a little more bearable. In addition to the fact that two of us got new skis for Christmas and we were begging for snow since there was still grass on most of the runs. It’s a catch-22 though, because there are also still farmers with beans in the field that need combining.
When you think of weather and agriculture, there is no “perfect.” It’s not just about rain and sunshine and agriculture is happy. When we are low on moisture, snow does help for crop farmers, but makes it more difficult for livestock producers. Cool weather is good for animals but not always for crops.
We are blessed to have the diversity in North Dakota to support so many different commodities and ag production practices. I’m thankful for all of those who work hard no matter the day or hour to continue to provide the many choices I have to put on my table and feed my family. I hope you have a Happy New Year and let’s all resolve to continue to keep asking questions and seeking where truth meets food!